What is Control Panel in Windows? Control Panel controls how everything looks and works in Windows. It is a software module capable of performing administrative operating system tasks. It also provides access to certain specific software features. All the settings related to the hardware and software features of your system are present in the Control Panel. What does it have? You can view and modify the network settings, users and passwords, installation and removal of programs in your system, speech recognition, parental control, desktop background, power management, keyboard and mouse function, and so on…
How to Open Control Panel (Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP)
Control Panel is the key to change any setting related to the OS and its functions. Thus, it is important to know how to open the Control Panel in Windows. In most versions of Windows, it is super easy to find the control panel.
1. Opening the Control Panel in Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, and XP
a. Go to the Start Menu.
b. Click on settings. Then select Control Panel.
c. The following window will open.
2. Open the Control Panel in Windows Vista and Windows 7
a. Go to the Start menu on the desktop.
b. On the right side of the menu, you will find the Control Panel option. Click on it
c. The following window will open. Sometimes, a larger window where there are icons for each utility may also appear.
3. Opening the Control Panel in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
a. Make sure that your mouse is pointing to the bottom left corner of the screen and right-click on Start Menu.
b. The power user menu will open. Select the Control Panel from the menu.
c. The following Control Panel window will open.
4. How to Open the Control Panel in Windows 10
Windows 10 is the latest version of the operating system. There are a bunch of ways in which you can access the Control Panel in Windows 10.
a) The start menu
You can open the start menu. You will see the applications listed in alphabetic order. Scroll all the way down to W and click on Windows System. Then select Control Panel.
b) The search bar
You will find a rectangular search bar next to the start button. Type control panel. The application will be listed as the best match. Click on the application to open it.
c) The run box
The run box can also be used to open the Control Panel. Press Win+R to open the run box. Type control in the text box and click OK.
Also Read: Show Control Panel in WinX Menu in Windows 10
Other ways to open the Control Panel
In Windows 10, important applets of the Control Panel are also available in the Settings application. Apart from this, you can use the Command Prompt to access the Control Panel. Open the Command Prompt and type ‘control’. This command will open the control panel.
1. Sometimes, when you need to access an applet quickly or when you are building a script, you can access specific access using the respective command in Command Prompt.
2. Yet another option is to enable the GodMode. This is not a control panel. However, it is a folder where you can quickly access all the tools from the Control Panel.
Control Panel Views – The classic view Vs the category view
There are 2 ways in which the applets can be displayed in the Control Panel – the classic view or the category view. The category views logically groups all the applets and displays them under different categories. The classic view individually displays the icons for all applets. The view can be changed using the dropdown menu at the top left corner of the Control Panel window. By default, the applets are displayed in the category view. The category view provides brief info about the applets grouped in each category.
Also Read: Create Control Panel All Tasks Shortcut in Windows 10
Using the Control Panel
Every utility in the Control Panel is an individual component called an applet. Thus, the Control Panel is a collection of shortcuts to these applets. You can either browse the Control Panel or search for an applet by typing in the search bar. However, if you want to go directly to the applet rather than through the Control Panel, there are some Control Panel commands. Applets are shortcuts to files that have the .cpl extension. Thus, in some versions of Windows, the command – control timedate.cpl will open the Date and Time Settings.
